It’s impossible to know how Sha’Carri Richardson would have fared at the Tokyo Olympics had she debuted as the top American sprinter in the women’s 100 meters race.
Or is it?
This weekend, the 21-year-old Dallas native will get as close to a rematch as possible.
At the Prefontaine Classic on Saturday in Eugene, Ore., Richardson will race for the first time since she tested positive for marijuana at the U.S. track and field Olympic trials, received a 30-day suspension for the doping violation and was disqualified from the Olympic team.
At Hayward Field — in the same stadium she wowed America two weeks before her suspension became public news — Richardson will run against a 100 meters field almost identical to the group she likely would have faced in Tokyo.
There will be the three Jamaican medalists: Elaine Thompson-Herah (gold), Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce (silver) and Shericka Jackson (bronze). There will be three other Olympic finalists: Ivory Coast’s Marie-Josee Ta Lou (fourth), Switzerland’s Mujinga Kambungji (sixth) and American Teahna Daniels (seventh).
And there will be the chance for Richardson — albeit on a smaller stage with Olympic redemption still three years away — to prove her bold, brash, soaring stardom would’ve contended with the best this summer.
A press conference set for Friday marked her first media interview since she told NBC’s Today show in early July that she ingested marijuana at the trials to cope with the “emotional panic” of learning about her biological mother’s death.
But Richardson hasn’t stayed quiet the last couple of months, even while half a world from her Olympic dream.
Soon after the first rounds of the 100 meters races finished in Tokyo, Richardson tweeted: “Missing me yet?”
After the final, she lauded the Jamaican sweep and “powerful, strong Black women dominating the sport.”
Richardson’s personal-best 100 meters time of 10.72 seconds, which she logged in April, would’ve ranked second in the Olympic final.
Thompson-Herah set an Olympic record with 10.61 seconds in her victory, breaking the longstanding mark of Richardson’s sprinting role model, Florence Griffith-Joyner. Fraser-Pryce, whom many expected to be Richardson’s top rival in Tokyo, finished in 10.74 seconds with Jackson (10.76) close behind.
Richardson almost assuredly missed at least another silver medal, too.
Though her suspension ended before Olympic competition started, USA Track and Field declined to include Richardson on its 4×100 relay team, which won silver — 0.43 seconds behind the Jamaicans.
